Angel Grace
by LaVon Raine
Summary: My OC Sparrow Grace and her lover Erskine Ravel from "Mortal Coil" take on Lord Vile and their secret relationship.
1. Chapter 1

Angel Grace

Chapter 1

_I was seven when my mother and father abandoned me. I was left crying on the street, alone, in the rain. I sat huddled in an alley opening, waiting for something to kill me. Two shadows appeared around the corner. A woman's soft gasp caused my tiny body to tense. She leaned down, and picked me up, whispering soothing words in my ears. I shivered against her body, still terrified…_

I bolted upright, my hand holding the white sheet to my bare chest. A grunt next me told me I'd woken my lover. My breathing was heavy, my heart racing. The dream hadn't even been scary, but something startled me. I'd seen a black shadow following us as Maya and Vex carried me away from the alley. A kiss on my naked made me look over. "You alright?" He asked. I nodded, swallowing.

"I'm fine. Just a dream. Go back to sleep, Erskine," I murmured. He ignored my command and sat up, pulling me against his side. He kissed the top of my head. I let him hold me; stroke my hair, my spine. Slowly, I calmed down and began to doze. He lay down, and my head rested on his chest.

When morning came, my dream disappeared from my mind, I didn't know what had scared me. I sat up and kissed Erskine's cheek. "Time to get up, Grand Mage, we have to get to work," I said teasingly. He groaned.

"Do we have to?" he groaned. I laughed.

"Yes, we do. People will get weird thoughts if the Grand Mage and his guard both don't show up," I said, and he snorted.

"As if they don't already," he said. I smiled and kissed him. I loved my job, I really did. Being the Grand Mage of Ireland's personal guard was the best career I could possibly think of. And yet, curling up in the arms of the man who's life I was supposed to protect at night made my life all the better, even if I did have the occasional nightmare.

I reached over and grabbed my robe, synching it around my body before heading to the bathroom to get dressed. White trousers, white tunic, white coat, white boots. Simple but rarely seen. I had a thing against being subtle.

I was ready in half an hour, Erskine took a little longer. I waited in my red Focus, until he came out. I smiled, my fingers tapping the steering wheel in rhythm with my music. He laughed as I started singing along with Nightwish's "Sleeping Sun."

"Is that song symbolic?" He asked, gesturing between the two of us. I laughed and continued.

"Oh, how I wish to go down with the sun, sleeping, weeping with you," I finished. "Of us? I guess you could say that, except, I don't ever plan on weeping with you, unless, well, you know." He laughed.

"But sleeping?"

"I do it anyway," I said with a wink. He laughed then.

"Yes, I guess that's true." I raised my eyebrows.

"Guess?"

He laughed and took my left hand to kiss it. I pulled into a hidden parking lot and turned off the car. "You are lucky I'm such an amazing driver, otherwise we would've crashed," I said, leaning over to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. "We better get inside before people see us," I said. His mouth twisted to the side.

"I suppose." Sometimes having a secret romance sucks.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I sighed, listening to Erskine babble on about Lord Vile. I glanced over at my friend, Lady Myst, and she caught my eye, causing me to smile. Lady and I were good friends; we had been since the Sanctuary's lead detective introduced her to me. Skulduggery Pleasant and Erskine kept shooting ideas back and forth, none of them sounding very good. A tentative knock at the door caused a break in the boredom. The Administrator peeked in. "Grand Mage, there's someone to see you," she murmured softly.

I tensed, laying my hand on the white wood handle of my whip. The man who stepped into the room was tall; maybe around twenty-five with soft brown hair fell across his deep green eyes. He was muscled and tan, dressed in a black tee-shirt and jeans that accented his muscles. He looked like he could hurt someone easily, but his aura was more relaxed, gentle. He nodded to Erskine, and then to Lady, who was staring at him.

I stifled a giggle and winked at her when she glanced at me. I got a glare in return. Erskine sighed. "Everyone, this is Aleron Crevan. He will be assisting us with Vile," Erskine said. I nodded in welcome, taking my spot on Erskine's left side. "Any other news?" No one answered. "Good. Meeting adjourned." He turned to the man and I stepped back so he could introduce him. "I hate those meetings," he grumbled.

"Then why do you talk so much?" Skulduggery asked. Erskine glared at him. I smiled.

"He's got a point," I said, cautious about going to him because of Aleron. The others knew of our relationship, just not the rest of the sanctuary. Erskine glanced back at me.

"Sparrow, you're the one who wrote that speech," he grumbled. I laughed lightly, letting him know I was only teasing. He sighed then turned to the rest of the small room. "Skulduggery, Aleron will be working with you and your group." Lady's eyes widened and she hastened the skeleton out of the room.

"Oh, dear, wait till Valkyrie and Fletcher hear about this," I murmured. Aleron bade us good-bye and left. Erskine smiled, locking the door behind him.

"Well, we have the rest of the day to ourselves," he said, striding over to me, catching my thin waist in his arms. I laughed, looking up into his sparkling, dark eyes. I was almost a full foot shorter than him. I stood up on my toes and kissed his throat. He gave a slight groan and lifted me up to kiss me on the lips. His kisses were always deep, threatening to overwhelm me. I pulled back, burying my head against his chest, laughing with an odd sense of delight.

"Not here, love," I murmured.

"The door's locked," he grumbled, letting me down.

"Yes, but with our luck, someone will attack the Sanctuary while…" I trailed off, feeling a slight blush light my cheeks. He just laughed.

"Well, I do have some work to do, so I guess you're right."

"I'm always right, silly," I said, kissing his cheek and watched him settle down to his desk and papers.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The next day ran on. Lady and I argued over her little crush on Aleron and she spent the whole day reading. Most of the day went on without incident; we mostly sat around and planned our first move against Lord Vile. The day went by without incident and we talked, and talked, and talked, and talked. Lady kept her nose in her book, seemingly annoyed at the world. I kept my mind active, trying to come up with a plan that would help us against Vile. Nothing came to me, though.

It was close to eight in the evening when the lights in the Sanctuary went out. I heard several people in the room swear and someone finger's snapped, lighting the room with fire. The light of the flames dimmed for a second as I called it to me. It curled in my palm, sparkling oddly, moving like smoke in a ball, only white light. I took my spot slightly in front and to the left of Erskine, waiting for the doors to open and our enemy to show him, or herself. I was beginning to relax, thinking it was a false alarm when the door opened. The figure of a man strode in, his eyes squinted in the in the dim light. Fear froze me, sent ice shooting through my veins.

The man's face twisted into a dark sneer when he spotted me. I shook my head, trying to dispel the terror. I could hear Erskine's breathing behind me and sense my friends' energies around me. That helped me settle. My eyes met his and I felt the pull of his magic on me. "You know better than that, Viper," I said softly. He growled and I relaxed even more. I felt his pull, trying to manipulate me, cause me pain by pulling and twisting on the magic and energy inside me.

Babylon Viper was the man's full taken name. He pulled on the power in people's true names and used it against them. I never understood how, he didn't know the true names, but he did it somehow. He didn't get why his powers didn't work in me, but that was my secret against him. My history with him was long and complicated, but it all boiled down to him killing my fiancé half a century before.

I waited, one hand holding the light, the other gripping the handle on my whip. Viper scanned the room, dark eyes glowing as they settled on Lady. Before I could act, Lady cried out and fell to the floor holding her head in her hands. I sent the ball of light straight at the man's chest and ran to my friend's side. Calling her energy forward, I worked to untwist it. I felt the tangled mess inside her and worked at unraveling it. Her eyes fluttered open just as Viper fled. Then they closed again as she passed out.

Aleron came to her side and I let him carry her to the infirmary. I checked around the room, making sure no one else was harmed. They all seemed okay, so I sat down, willing my body to relax. Erskine's fingers trailed along my neck. I looked up at him with a small smile. "You okay?" He asked. He knew my issues with Viper. I nodded.

"I'm okay," I murmured. Worry over Lady caused me to stand up and start pacing. The room was empty, everyone had followed Aleron out. Erskine grabbed my wrist, gently tugging me against him.

"Stop worrying. Let's go check out the damages. Then we can check on Lady, okay?" His voice was gentle. I nodded, leaning up to kiss his jaw. I was still full of adrenaline, so the exercise would be good for me. Erskine let go of me after returning my kiss and we walked out of the room.

At least the underground building wasn't in shambles. A few walls had holes in them, a few statues and beams were broken, but it would be easy to fix. We made our way to the infirmary. Everyone stood outside. Worried looks on every face caused my heart to drop. "Any news?" I asked shakily. They shook their heads. I forced my body to relax. The healer knew what he was doing. After all, I'd trusted Shoney with my life long before I brought him to the Sanctuary with me.

A while later he walked out. "She'll be fine, but I'm keeping her overnight, just in case." His aqua eyes were bright as he scanned us all, noting that we weren't harmed. His mouth twisted into a gentle smile. "Trust me, I know best." I sighed as he turned around and pushed through the door. I refused to leave the Sanctuary until I saw Lady. I was exhausted, but didn't let it show. I sat through the night, head on Erskine's shoulder, only dozing as the sun began to rise.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The next day was even worse. While Lady was up and about and seemingly healthy, I wasn't feeling so hot. A dark feeling taunted the back of my mind all day, leaving me with a headache. I didn't know what was going on, maybe lack of sleep, but it made me anxious. My left hand was constantly on my whip's handle. I waited for something to happen. Finally, I just couldn't take it anymore. I had had to get up, get out of there. I stood up and pushed away from my desk.

The people around me asked what was wrong, but I just shook off their concern. Energy buzzed through me. I didn't dare leave the Sanctuary building. That would mean abandoning my job, but I had to get up and move around. I walked swiftly through the halls, noting everything going on, my sense of unease rising. I half expected the lights to go out again, but they didn't. I found myself in an empty room about an hour later. The walls were stark white, the ceiling and floor paneled with what looked like dark pine. I stood there, blinking. The room had taken me by surprise. I'd expected another hallway.

It was there I realized how frayed my emotions were, how exhausted I was from the day before. I let the door close behind me and wondered why there was an empty room in the middle of the Sanctuary. There was nothing unusual about the room at all. I walked to the back wall and sat down against it. The energy running through me died down and I dozed.

_The silver blade in his chest shined in the early morning sunshine. It caused his blood to glow like plasma. Pain lanced through my heart, fear burned it away. I took his hand in mine and cried. "No, no, Jace! You can't leave me!" I cried. His breath didn't even flutter. With tear filled eyes I looked down the alley where the man had fled, swearing vengeance on him and his loved ones. I stood, my white clothes stained with my lover's red blood. _

_ The man stood at the end of the alley, his entire body draped in shadows. They were writhing around him, his hand held out and they started to creep toward me. There wasn't a lot of light around, but what there was I called to me, let it in me, and forced it out. The wave engulfed him, dissolving his shadows. My voice shook as I spoke. "Never come near me again. I will kill you the second I see you." He just glared and disappeared once again into the shadows. I noticed a drop of blood leaking from the side of his mouth but ran back to Jace instead of pondering it._

I started awake at the sound of a knock at the door. "Is someone in here?" The voice was familiar. I stood and stretched.

"Just a sec," I called, snickering as an exasperated sigh sounded from the other side of the threshold. I opened to door to face Lady. She had her mouth quirked to the left in a show of half worry, half amusement. "I just fell asleep." I said. Her eyebrow raised in question.

"What was the issue?" she asked. I shrugged.

"Something's been bothering me all day," I said. "It's just a strange feeling."

"That's not good," she murmured. I nodded. We walked back to the offices together, both deep in thought. I saw Lady rub her temple gently. She caught my glance. "Headache," she said. I nodded.

"I wish I could've warned everyone about him before," I said softly. "Babylon Viper's been haunting me for years now," I said. The memory of my dream earlier caused me to pause. "He isn't the worst, but he's pretty bad." I said.

She gave a harsh laugh. "I gathered." I sighed, the dark feeling beginning to grow again. Lady noticed and grabbed my wrist.

"Whatever it is, it's here," I said. A few people glanced up, but went straight back to work. I twisted my hand and grabbed Lady's wrist, running to the meeting room where I knew Erskine and the others would be. I felt Lady stumbling along beside me. I dropped her hand, shivering, and opened the door. I knew I was needed; my job of guard couldn't be questioned. The feeling I'd had all day finally made sense. That darkness. That cruelty.

The door swung back and I strode inside, moving quickly to stand at Erskine's right side. He looked at me with a strange expression, but I just shook my head, not wanting to explain the danger I felt. He sighed and shook his head. I half listened as he talked to Skulduggery and Aleron about their plans with Vile, and half listened for anything that could be dangerous. Lady sat down, looking bored.

I shifted my weight from left to right and back again, my hand playing on the handle of my whip. I never had intuition this strong and I was honeslty terrified. It took another hour for Erskine to dismiss the meeting and turn to me. "What's up?" he asked.

"Something's off," I replied. He looked like he wanted to ask what, but something flashed in the corner of my eye. I whirled to see tendrils of shadow seeping from the corner of the room. The shadows twisted into the shape of a man. He was handsome, in a way, dark hair and glowing hazel eyes.

He didn't speak, just stepped forward, waving his hand and nearly impaling me with daggers of darkness. I blocked them with a wave of light energy. "You all may want to run," I said through gritted teeth. No one moved. I heard clicking fingers and saw the light of fire flickering along the walls. The man flicked his wrist out and the shadows converged in a band there.

"I thought you said you were going to kill me, Grace," he said. I growled and lunged.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The man pushed me back with a wave of shadows and I slammed against the wall. Pain spurred in my ribs, but I forced myself to keep fighting. He reached out to grab me, and I let him. As soon as his fingers closed around my wrist, I twisted it to the inside, effectively dislocating his thumb. He howled in pain. I skipped back as he pulled his arm to his chest. I called what light there was in the dark room to me.

The energy gathered inside me, burning hot and fierce. I forced it out at him and the glowing ball hit him square in the chest. He stumbled back more and I uncoiled my whip. I sent it out before he could recover. It caught his left ankle and toppled him over. Skulduggery took me by surprise by coming from behind me and putting a pair of bound handcuffs on him. I stood panting, feeling a little light headed from the energy I'd let in and the sharp pain in my ribs. The necromancer growled at me. I glared right back. "You were asking for it, Rafael. Just be happy I _didn't_ kill you," I said, turning my back, waiting for him to insult me. Instead I heard him grunt. Glancing back, I watched Rafael Black's eyes close after Skulduggery knocked him out.

"He was annoying me," the skeleton explained, making me smile. I tried not to laugh, though. I knew I had at least a couple cracked ribs. I moved away while Skulduggery dealt with the evil necromancer. I felt the group converging around me. I looked around.

"Seriously, guys? I'm gonna head to Shoney now so you don't worry about me," I grumbled. They followed. I sighed in exasperation. Shoney stood outside the doors, waiting. He saw my irritation and laughed.

"I figured when the lights went out I'd be seeing at least one of you," he said, his Australian accent calm, worried, and humorous at the same time.

"Let's just get this over with," I grumbled, striding past him into the stark white infirmary. Shoney followed and closed the door behind me.

"You gonna tell me what happened?" he asked. Shoney read me well. He could tell my irritation was just a cover for the deep fear I felt inside me. I swallowed as I plopped myself up on one of the cots, hissing as the move jolted my cracked ribs.

"Rafael Black showed up." The statement was blunt. I was surprised to hear my voice shake. It had been over fifty years since he'd killed my fiancée. Shoney nodded, lifting my top to spread something gooey over the tender ribs.

"He isn't dead?" Shoney actually sounded shocked. I shook my head.

"No, I've learned killing isn't always the best revenge, but that doesn't mean I wasn't tempted." He nodded, wrapping bandages so the goo wouldn't get on my clothes.

"Lay back, Sparrow. Get some rest. Don't think about anything for a while." I nodded and followed his orders. Sleep settled on me as I watched Shoney bustle around the white room. He was muscular for a doctor, with sandy blond hair and soft blue and green clothes; he looked far from his chosen profession. His analytic turquoise eyes gave me chills sometimes. It was like he saw stuff I couldn't. I felt his scrutinizing gaze on me as my eyes fluttered closed.

The sun was setting when a gentle hand brushing my forehead woke me. Erskine was looking down at me, dark eyes full of worry. "I'm fine," I said, reaching up to take his hand from my face and hold it. He shook his head.

"That's not what Shoney said," he whispered. "All that energy, Sparrow, you know what that does when it's inside you." I rolled my eyes. I was perfectly aware of what the light energy did to my insides if I let it stay there too long. It burned, caused bleeding.

"I know, I know, but it was the only way to defeat that damn necromancer," I said. He looked taken aback.

"You do know we could've helped," he said. I smiled.

"It's my job to protect you, love. I can't have you in danger." He grumbled something incoherent. "Erskine, stop it. It was bound to happen, it does all the time around me, and you know it. People don't like me." His mouth twisted into a frown.

"I like you and so does everyone outside those doors," he said. I rolled my eyes.

"I mean besides you and our friends." He nodded, still acting odd.

"I'm fine, and you know it," I said, he pulled my hand up to his face and kissed it.

"You're probably right, but I still worry."

"Far too much in my eyes." He laughed. "Go get some rest, Erskine. I'm sure Shoney wants me to rest more." He nodded, kissing my forehead before leaving. Shoney rounded the curtain.

"Sparrow, we need to talk," he said, his expression slightly distressed.


End file.
